OpenSecrets PolitiQuizz: Who does Phoenix Favor?

Primary races today in Michigan and Arizona will be an important indicator of the direction of the Republican presidential race. If Rick Santorum can pull out a victory in Mitt Romney’s home state of Michigan, then the former U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania could maintain his momentum heading into Super Tuesday on March 6th. A strong performance by Santorum could also help him to catch up in the money race.

That dynamic in the Great Lakes state has largely pushed Arizona out of the media spotlight. However, Arizona has nearly as many delegates up for grabs as Michigan. And polls indicate Romney’s headed for a big victory there.

In 2008, eventual Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain raised the most money in Arizona — his home state — with $6.8 million raised heading into the state’s primary. Romney was a distant second with $1.4 million in contributions, according to Center for Responsive Politics research. But how will the former Massachusetts governor stack up against the competition this year?

That’s the crux of this week’s PolitiQuizz. We want you to check out the Phoenix-Mesa metropolitan area, which consists of Phoenix — the sixth largest city in the nation and Arizona’s capital — and some surrounding suburbs, and features a population of nearly 4.2 million people. We want to know:

Among all major presidential candidates — Democratic and Republican — who has collected the most campaign cash from residents in the Phoenix-Mesa area giving $200 or more, through January 31? And how much has that candidate collected?

As always, the answer can be found somewhere in the annals of OpenSecrets.org.

Now to settle last week’s question. We asked:On which presidential candidate, both in the primary and general elections, did outside groups spend the least in independent expenditures in 2008? And how much was spent?

The answer, which could be found by looking at the 2008 election under the Presidential elections section of the Politicians and Elections database, was Alan Keyes. A grand total of $3 was spent by an outside group opposing his candidacy.

User ‘ErstwhileAccomplice’ was the first person to provide the correct answer. Congratulations! Please send us an email at [email protected] with a preferred mailing address and we’ll send you your prize.

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